The electrical behavior of cells and cell membranes is of profound importance in basic research as well as in modern drug development. A specific area of interest in this field is in the study of ion channels and transporters. Ion channels are protein-based pores found in the cell membrane that are responsible for maintaining the electrochemical gradients between the extracellular environment and the cell cytoplasm. Ion channels are passive elements in that, once opened, ions flow in the direction of existing electrochemical gradients.
The study of ion channels is a very diverse and prolific area encompassing basic academic research as well as biotechnical and pharmaceutical research. Electrophysiology is performed on isolated cell membranes or vesicles as well as on synthetic membranes where solubilized channels are reconstituted into a manufactured membrane. Instrumentation for automated, high-throughput studies of ion channels have been developed and may be referred to as high-throughput electrophysiological measurement systems.
Generally, many types of assays require adequate cell preparation. Thus, an ongoing need exists for effective methods for cell preparation and apparatuses or devices configured to implement such methods. Adequate cell preparation is of particular interest in the context of automated assays, which may entail performing multiple assays with minimal human intervention to increase throughput and hence the number of data points acquired per day. While known automated high-throughput measurement systems such as noted above may be employed to perform electrophysiological assays in a relatively quick and efficient manner, such systems may not be equipped to automatically prepare the cells and cell solutions used in the assays. Therefore, a need exists for systems and methods to automatically prepare the cells and cell solutions used in electrophysiology assays.